The Saints come from behind to beat Lincoln in the EFL Cup

Che Adams’ brace helped Southampton come from behind and avoid a blow against Lincoln City in League One in the Carabao Cup fourth round.

His team fell behind early when Gavin Bazunu failed to deal with the removal of Ainsley Maitland-Niles slides.

But Adams scored a goal in the first half to lead Southampton to qualification.

The two goals marked the first time Southampton had scored more than one goal in a match since beating Chelsea on August 30.

This is the first time they have reached the quarter-finals of the competition since losing to Manchester United in the 2017 final.

Having waited over six weeks for his home bow after joining from Luton, Jones wanted a better start, but Bazuno, under pressure from Pawdie O’Connor, failed to deal with the wrong clearance and the ball rebounded.

It took Southampton a while to settle but they found an equalizer when Mohamed Elyounoussi found space on the right side of the area and dived into the penalty area for Adams – who may have been offside – to head home.

Lincoln, playing in the fourth round for the first time since 1967-68, was the better team early in the second half, but Jones made a three-way substitution and changed from 5-3-2 to 4-3-3.

He made an immediate improvement, reaching the second goal when an acrobatic Ilyonossi effort was fouled and then Adams volleyed it on the line for his second goal in the competition of the season.

Lincoln pressed for a late equalizer after leaving gaps for Southampton to exploit, with Samuel Idoze and Adams both missing incredible chances to add Saints more points.